$54 million college football coach now favored to be next Michigan head coach

Dillingham Out?

As the ripples of college football's initial coaching carousel were starting to subside, here it goes again. Michigan was apparently closing in on Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham as its next coach, but one of Lee Corso's truisms came roaring back: not so fast, my friend. Dillingham is now rumored to be signing an extension at Arizona State, which means that the Michigan search will continue.

DeBoer A Possibility?

Other rumors with Michigan have centered around Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer. That's convenient timing, as DeBoer himself is in jeopardy of a fourth loss in a second consecutive season at Alabama. It's safe to say, as Paul Finebaum asserted recently, that Alabama's CFP game with Oklahoma could deeply impact DeBoer's future plans. If DeBoer did leave Alabama, the resulting coaching carousel fallout would likely be massive across the entire sport.

A New Favorite

But a new favorite is jumping thorough the Kalshi prediction market. Washington coach Jeff Fisch has leaped to a 37% chance to take the Michigan job as Dillingham fell from an overwhelming favorite to under 10% chances. Fisch is finishing the second year of a $54 million contract for seven years that he signed with the Huskies before the 2024 season.

Fisch's Resume

A renowned offensive mind, Fisch graduated from the University of Florida and has climbed the offensive coaching ladder since. He did coach defense briefly with the NFL's Houston Texans, but he's otherwise worked on offensive with a bevy of college and pro teams. He's been the offensive coordinator at Miami, with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and at UCLA.

Fisch rose to prominence in his first head coaching job at Arizona. His Wildcat teams climbed from 1 to 5 to 10 wins in his three seasons there. Since taking over Washington, Fisch is now 14-11 and has taken the Huskies to two bowl games.

Michigan's Dilemma

Michigan seemed to be in good shape with Sherrone Moore after the departure of Jim Harbaugh to the NFL, but the events of the last week left the Wolverines suddenly without a coach and at a point in the coaching carousel where many of the biggest targets (Lane Kiffin, James Franklin) and even the top secondary targets (Jon Sumrall, Alex Golesh) have already been hired.

Given the uncertainty around the Michigan program, Fisch might make sense simply as one of the quicker hires possible. With Washington preparing for the LA Bowl this evening, Fisch recently reiterated his plan to coach the Huskies in 2026. That said, the prediction market is obviously not quite buying in on that plan.